37
There is absolutely nothing in the world that scares me except for one.
The king in his Rudra avatar or atleast that is what I like to call it when his anger surpasses the normal limit.
It is the fire that burns everything in it's way, the storm that pities no one, and the third eye that causes absolute destruction and now....that destruction is heading towards Meihu!
I love this!
"Meihu, open!" the king roared as he knocked on her door and it did not even take a second knock before a panicking Meihu opened the door.
"Yes....your highness," she hesitantly asked, even had a brief glance at me as if asking for help.
Hell no!
"WHERE. IS. MY. WIFE?" the king asked angrily looking into Meihu's eyes. Meihu couldn't help but look down. It took a while for her to even form sentences.
"You...your..high..ness..." she stuttered.
"ANSWER ME," the king yelled and Meihu flinched as she hesitantly continued, "Vaishu...is always like this....she has the tendency to..."
Meihu did not even get to finish her statement before the king's sword reached her neck, the only thing preventing her head from flying away is my hand which in all honesty is struggling to fight the strength of the king.
Meihu froze in her place as blood slowly started to drip on the floor.
I was fast but not fast enough and hence the king's sword already made it's way to her neck.
...enough to cause a lasting mark but not enough to take her life.
...and despite my best efforts I wasn't able to even move it by even an inch.
"Not a word against my wife, women," the king said gritting his teeth, "Not a word against my wife."
"Where is the queen?" I asked Meihu again hoping she would answer it this time and that would calm down the king.
"Kali..kalika devi temple," Meihu immediately answered, "The preist gave her access...to garbha gudi (inner chambers)."
The king got the answer but still did not take down his sword.
I wouldn't blame him and I honestly want him to kill her....but....
"Your highness," I said trying to get him to put back the sword, "She is the queen's friend."
"Not really, no," the king said still eager to make the strike.
"We should....perhaps..let the queen decide that..." I said careful with my tone and word choice.
The king thought for a while before bringing his sword down. "Let's find the queen," he stated.
In an idle state, I continued to stare at the Kalika Devi statue, hoping the goddess would somehow give me an answer.
Did Meihu tell me the truth or did she lie? Am I right in running away to save Adi's honour? Will he ever hear my side once I go back? What if...
My thoughts where interrupted when the doors suddenly opened and a group of 3 men stood infront of me.
"Who are you?" I asked.
They did not answer my question and one man immediately came forward to attack me while the other two tried to reach for Devi ma's jwellery.
Thieves!
Never in my life did I think I would be able to fight off grown men, but Adi's training certainly payed off and I was able to not only defend myself but also prevent them from reaching the deity and soon enough the chaos attracted the nearby people.
The thieves tried to run away the moment they heard the footsteps and I tried to chase them out until we ran into the group of people outside the temple.
"She is trying to steal the jewellery," the men claimed pointing the finger at me, "We caught her red-handed."
"What? No!" I immediately defended, "They were the ones who....."
"Sir, you know us," one of the thieves said, "We work on temple repairs and it is not abnormal for us to work late into the night. Ask about who she is and why she is here."
The crowd looked at me expecting an answer.
"I am an acquaintance of the preist," I replied honestly, "You can ask him..."
"What a perfect lie to say when the preist is out of town," the other thief commented.
"No I......."
"Women like this need to be..." the third thief interrupted me and reached out for my hand, perhaps with the intention of dragging me somewhere but before he could even get hold of me a sword flew out of nowhere and chopped off his hand, the soil turned red with blood and I had to take a step back to prevent the trail of blood from touching my feet.
As I looked up, I saw the crowd giving way and bowing down and amongst them Adi was walking towards me. The man beside me was screaming in pain, people around me were trembling in fear, and the other two men tried to run away but were caught by some soldiers.
Yet all I could focus on were Adi's eyes.
This is not the first time I saw him angry but this is certainly the first time I saw so much anger in his eyes that it felt like they could burn down the world.
"Your highness," the general's calm voice brought me out of trance and I broke eye contact with Adi to look at him.
"We...we found your raksha kavach," he said showing me the sacred thread that I did not even realize fell off of my hand, "You do not have to get a new one from the temple."
What an intelligent way to both let people know my identity and let them know the 'purpose' of my visit to the temple.
I nodded and took the sacred thread from his hand.
"Let's go?" the general asked hesitantly and before I could reply Adi reached out for my hand.
It is impressive how his eyes are full of anger, yet his grip is gentle and in no time we were walking back to the chariot.
"Out everyone," Adi commanded and in no time the palace got completely empty except for the general who was standing behind us, ready to protect me at the slightest hint of danger.
Adi let go of my hand the moment everyone left and tried to walk away.
"Adi wait..." I said holding his hand.
Adi looked at our hands and then back at me.
"Leave," he said in a dangerously low and commanding voice. I never heard him talk like that and I instinctively let go of his hand out of fear.
Adi continued to walk away.
"Your highness, atleast listen to what the queen has to say," the general said on my behalf.
Adi did not even respond and continued walking.
"It could be a misundertanding for all we know," the general continued, "Your relationship is too beautiful to be broken over a misunderstanding."
No respose.
"You will regret your decision," the general continued and this time Adi paused.
"Do not advice the king," he warned.
"I am not advising the king," the general replied, "I am advising a friend."
This made Adi even more furious and he started to angrily walk towards the general.
"When will you realize that friendship is...." he paused midway when I stood infront of him, stopping him from approaching the general further, his fury now being directed towards me.
"I...ran away," I said slowly gaining courage, "Punish me if you want to....do not punish the general...or anyone else....or yourself."